Managing Patient Bed Assignments And Bed Occupancy In A Health Care Facility

ABSTRACT

An integrated health care delivery network with enabling software and network technology to maximize bed resources, manage varying census levels, and avoid patient diversions through real-time monitoring, automation and communication, is disclosed. Preferably, the present invention is embodied in a bed management system that interfaces with and complements existing Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) systems. The bed management system is an easy-to-use business intelligence application that is designed to allow administrators, clinicians and managers to easily access, analyze and display real-time patient and bed availability information from ancillary information systems, databases and spreadsheets. It enables users to see trends and relationships in hospital (bed) management data directly from their desktop personal computers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a U.S. continuation patent application of,and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. nonprovisional patentapplication Ser. No. 12/784,552, filed May 21, 2010, which '552application published as U.S. patent application publication no.US/2010/0324926, which '552 application and publication thereof areincorporated by reference herein, and which '552 application is a U.S.continuation patent application of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§120 to, U.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 10/238,427,filed Sep. 9, 2002, which '427 application published as U.S. patentapplication publication no. US/2003/0074222, which '427 application andpublication thereof are incorporated by reference herein, and which '427application is a nonprovisional patent application of, and claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to, U.S. provisional patent applicationSer. No. 60/317,784, filed on Sep. 7, 2001, which '784 application isincorporated by reference herein.

The present application further incorporates by reference U.S. patentapplication publication no. US/2008/0221926, which is the publication ofU.S. nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 12/119,664, filed May13, 2008. The '664 application represents the filing of the incorporated'784 provisional application as a nonprovisional application.

The present invention generally relates to the fields of automatedresource management and virtual instrument technology. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a real-time support toolfor patient bed assignments and other process in a health care facilityand for profiling historical, current and future activities and eventssuch as bed occupancy levels therein.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Most hospitals employ an Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) system formanaging ancillary information, such as admissions, discharge andtransfer data about its patients. However, there are existing problemsin ADT systems. One problem, for example, is the inability of currentADT systems to provide sufficient clinical information for appropriatepatient placement.

Another problem area is the lack of accurate bed availabilityinformation. This generally results in lost admissions and excessivewait times.

Inefficient communication while searching for the appropriate bed for apatient, is another problem.

High incidences of ‘observation’ outpatients that occupy inpatient bedswithout payer authorization, is another problem.

Additionally, current ADT systems often lack the ability to access andprovide meaningful historical, current and predictive data regarding bedoccupancy levels and other activities and events related to theoperation of a health care facility.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention satisfies, to a great extent, the foregoing andother needs not currently satisfied by existing systems. This result isachieved, in an exemplary embodiment, by providing an integrated healthcare delivery network with enabling technology to maximize bedresources, manage varying census levels, and avoid patient diversionsthrough real-time monitoring, automation and communication.

Preferably, the present invention is embodied in a bed management systemthat interfaces with and complements existing health care facilitiesadmission systems such as Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) systems.The bed management system is an easy-to-use intelligent application thatis designed to allow administrators, clinicians and managers to easilyaccess, analyze and display real-time patient and bed availability andrelated information from ancillary information systems, databases andspreadsheets. In other words, it enables users to see trends andrelationships in hospital management data directly from their desktoppersonal computers and/or handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs).

The present invention improves patient placement efficiency and savestime and money by assisting with the clinical and business decisionprocess that occurs when a patient needs to be admitted to a hospital,for instance. The system includes the use of virtual instruments toprovide a cross-functional view of enterprise status throughout afacility or organization. Decision makers can easily move frombig-picture analyses to transaction-level details while, at the sametime, safely sharing this information throughout the enterprise toderive knowledge and make timely, data-driven decisions.

The system of the present invention enables more efficient patientplacement by, for example, reducing/eliminating telephone calls andpaper processes, and automatically matching patient requirements toavailable resources. In addition, it is an extremely powerful datawarehouse and data mining tool that provides on-demand historical,real-time and predictive reports, alerts and recommendations.

The system of the present invention is real-time and mission critical.That is, it handles both scheduled and emergency events. The system alsoassists with the clinical and business decision processes that occurwhen a patient needs to be assigned to a specific bed location, forexample.

Collectively, the system provides organizations or enterprises with anarray of enabling technologies to: schedule/reserve/request patient bedassignments; assign/transfer patients from an emergency departmentand/or other clinical areas; reduce/eliminate dependency on telephonecalls to communicate patient and bed requirements; apply statisticalprocess control (SPC) and “Six Sigma” methodologies to manage occupancyand patient diversion; and provide administrators, managers andcaregivers with accurate and on-demand reports and automatic alerts suchas through pagers, electronic mail, telephone and intelligent softwareagents.

Other features of the present invention include: easy-to-use visualnavigation; intuitive interactive interface; easy queries; runs onstandard computers; real-time, historical and predictive analyses; userconfigurable settings; remote access and control; geographicalinformation system interfaces; text-to-speech conversion; interactiveagent support and alarms; automatic messaging via email, pagers,telephone, etc.; integrated online help; file management andconfiguration utilities. In addition to these features, the presentinvention bed management system is designed to protect patientconfidentiality and be fully compliant with the evolving HealthInsurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations. A fullsecurity system is embedded within the dashboard to authenticate users,audit user access and assign users to definable system roles. Theseroles restrict both processes and the ability to view or change keydata.

With these and other advantages and features of the invention that maybecome hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be moreclearly understood by reference to the following detailed description ofthe invention and to the several drawings attached herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of the preferred embodiment of the bed managementsystem of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an ADT interface as used with the presentinvention.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are tables illustrating patient data extracted from an HL7message received from the ADT system of a health care facility.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of one embodiment of the database of the presentinvention system.

FIGS. 6A-6Y are illustrations of the data tables and fields thereof asstored in the database of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the system of the present invention coupled to anauthentication module for the network of the health care facility.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a login screen as used by the bedmanagement system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a role configuration screen as used forconfiguring the system of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a user configuration screen as used forassigning roles to a user of the bed management system.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of one embodiment of communications andnotification system of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is one embodiment of a user screen generated by the system forentering a patient into the bed management system.

FIG. 13 is another embodiment of the user screen of FIG. 12 used forlocating a patient.

FIG. 14 is one embodiment of a user screen for entering patient detailsinto the bed management system.

FIG. 15 is one embodiment of a find bed user screen of the system foridentifying an appropriate bed for a selected patient; the beds in thefacility sorted by clinical units.

FIG. 16 is one embodiment of a find bed user screen of the system forlocating a bed for a selected patient, wherein any patient required bedattributes are entered into the bed management system.

FIG. 17 is one embodiment of a bed details user screen of the system forentering bed attributes for a particular bed into the system of theinvention.

FIG. 18 is one embodiment of a placement information and confirmationuser screen of the bed management system.

FIG. 19 is one embodiment of an interactive user interface for thesystem showing a unit detail in a floor plan view.

FIG. 20 is a user interface screen similar to the FIG. 19 embodimentincluding a pending incoming patient activity bar.

FIG. 21 is an illustration of legends for the unit detail floor planviews as used with the present invention.

FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate user interface screens of the presentinvention for accessing unit details in that table views.

FIG. 24 is one embodiment of a user interface screen of the presentinvention bed management system showing patient and bed details for aselected patient as well as a patient schedule chart for the patient.

FIG. 25 is one embodiment of a user interface screen of the presentinvention bed management system for entering a transfer request for apatient.

FIG. 26 is one embodiment of a user interface screen of the presentinvention bed management system for scheduling a discharge for apatient.

FIG. 27 is one embodiment of a user interface screen of the presentinvention for matching the records of the bed management system of theinvention with the records of the health care facility coupled thereto.

FIG. 28 is one embodiment of a census report generated by the system foraccessing performance and census data for the clinical units, servicegroups and physicians of a health care facility.

FIG. 29 is one embodiment of an administrators report summarizing thebed occupancy and census data of a health care facility.

FIG. 30 is one embodiment of a hospital summary chart generated by thepresent invention for providing a summary of the status of a health carefacility.

FIG. 31 is one embodiment of an interactive physician dischargehistogram report generated by the present invention for summarizing thenumber of patient discharges as a function of time of day for a selectedphysician in comparison to all discharges.

FIG. 32 is one embodiment of a detailed report showing the number ofdischarges for a selected physician during a selected time period ascompared to all discharges for the facility; the report is userinteractive wherein a user can specify variables to select areconfiguration of the report.

FIG. 33 is one embodiment of a productivity report generated by the bedmanagement system of the present invention showing an average times fora discharge transaction and room cleaning operation to be completed forall units of a health care facility. A lower portion of the report showsone embodiment of a standard deviation chart for the selected activityof cleaning a bed in all units of the health care facility.

FIG. 34 shows a detailed report generated by the system of the inventionfor comparing the performance of each unit of a health care facility forperforming a selected activity.

FIG. 35 is a user interface screen generated by the system of theinvention illustrating the use of intelligent agents to monitor andnotify users of the system of the occurrence of a certain conditionrelated to a health care facility.

FIG. 36 illustrates an exemplary agent that may be configured to providenotification in the form of on-screen messages.

FIG. 37 illustrates another SPC chart that can generated by the datamining and reporting module illustrating a real-time control charthaving pre-established upper and lower control limits.

FIG. 38 shows a sample chart showing a tank simulation for a temperaturevalve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates the preferredembodiment of the bed management system of the present inventiongenerally referred to by the reference numeral 10. The bed managementsystem 10 having a server computer or application server 12 is coupledto an admission/discharge/transfer (ADT) system 14 of a health carefacility (not shown) via an ADT interface 16 and a database server 18.The database server 18 having a database 20 coupled thereto. A clientcomputer 22 having a user interface including a display 24, keyboard 26and pointer 27 is coupled to the server computer 12.

Alternatively, the server computer 12 could be configured as a Webserver 30 connectable to client computers 32 via the Internet asillustrated also in FIG. 1.

As will be discussed in detail hereinbelow, the preferred embodiment ofthe bed management dashboard or bed management system 10 of the presentinvention includes the following applications identified in FIG. 1 as alog-in module/authentication module 34, security module 36, bedplacement module 38, data mining and reporting module 40, utility andconfiguration module 42, data import and export module 44,communications and notification module 46, and an emergency backupmodule 48.

Although, the embodiment of the bed management system 10 of the presentinvention is described herein having an ADT interface for coupling to anADT system of a health care facility, it should be understood that thepresent invention bed management system is not limited in this regardand the system interface can be configured to couple the system of theinvention to other types of admission systems or networks for healthcare facilities or in a broader scope of the invention the system can beconfigured to interface with other types of systems or facilities.

Referring again to the system 10, FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment ofthe ADT interface 16 system interface wherein the database server 18 iscoupled to a health care facility's ADT system 14 via the ADT interface16 and receives patient information therefrom. A Neon Interface 50, (athird party Interface engine) is coupled to and monitors the ADT system14 for patient transactions and transmits Health Level Seven (HL7)messages consisting of patient information in Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) format to a TCP receiver 52. As shown in FIG. 2, the TCPreceiver 52 is a Link Medical Computing, Incorporated of Massachusetts,(LinkMed) TCP receiver. A LinkMed scheduler 54 is coupled to the TCPreceiver 52 and is configured to operate approximately every 10 secondsto determine whether or not any new HL7 messages have been received bythe TCP receiver. If an HL7 message has been received, an HL7 parser 56(LinkMed HL7 Mapper), parses the message and extracts therefromcomponents of the message that are utilized by the bed management system10.

FIGS. 3 and 4 identify the patient data 60 extracted from an HL7 messageand converted to and stored in XML (Extensible Markup Language) formatby the HL7 parser 56 for use by the system 10. The data extracted fromthe ADT system 14 and stored for use by the bed management system 10includes message data 62 wherein various fields store informationrelated to each ADT message, including the origin, date and time of themessage. The extracted data also includes patient ID data 64, which isgeneral identification information for the patient including billing andaccount information for the patient. Data pertaining to the currentvisit of the patient to the health care facility is also retrieved fromthe ADT message and stored as patient visit data 66. Typically, thepatient visit data 66 includes detailed information related to thepatient's visit including the unit of the facility the patient isadmitted to, information related to admitting, referral and attendingphysicians for the patient's visit, the source of the admission, thedate and time of the admission and expected discharge for the patient,etc. In the table shown in FIG. 4, the patient data 60 includes fieldsfor additional patient visit information 68, merge fields 70 foridentifying previous patient identification numbers for the patient, aswell as clinical data fields and customized fields related to thespecific health care facility 72.

Alternatively, the patient data received from the health care facilityadmissions department can be retrieved, formatted and stored for use ofthe bed management system 10 using various other methods andconfigurations, thus the FIGS. 2-4 should be understood as onlyexemplary representations of the system and methods of the presentinvention.

An interface 58 is used to process the XML data 60 and store the data 60in the database 20 for use by the bed management system 10. FIG. 5illustrates the fields of the database 20. The interface 58 also storesdate and time information for the processed HL7 message in a processfile (not shown). If the message is flawed or an error occurred duringthe transmission or processing of the message, the interface 58 isconfigurable to record the error and transmit an appropriatenotification thereof to appropriate administrators for the ADT system 14or the bed management system 10 of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 6A-6Y, the various tables and fields thereofcontained in one embodiment of the database 20 are identified.Generally, the data stored in the database 20 is referred to herein asbeing either “patient data” meaning the data pertains to a patient, or“bed attribute data” wherein the data pertains to the attributes of thebeds, or the health care facility. The data stored in the database 20includes the patient data 60 retrieved from the health care facility asdiscussed above, and data that pertains to the facility, the beds, thestaff, etc. The stored data is formatted such that the bed managementsystem 10 is capable of accessing and updating many different datafields related to the patient, the beds in the facility, the bedoccupancy levels, the performance of the staff, etc. as well as current,historical, and future information associated with the operation of thehospital.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the database 20 includes information related to theattributes and status of each bed in the facility. FIGS. 6B and 6Cillustrate data tables wherein messages and notes related to a patient,the patient's visit in the health care facility or the facility itselfare identified and stored in the database 20. FIG. 6D illustrates apatient table shown that includes general information regarding thepatient and requirements for the patient's care during the currenthospital visit. Schedule information for the patient is stored as shownin FIG. 6E. FIGS. 6F-6I show tables for storing information related tothe rooms and units of the health care facility as well as othermiscellaneous information for use by the bed management system 10. FIGS.6J and 6K illustrate exemplary tables for storing information related tovarious attributes of the facility and the attribute value respectively.Similarly, FIG. 6L illustrates a table in database 20 for storing a bedattribute and the value thereof. Bed attributes include whether the roomis positive or negative pressurized, whether or not the room hassecurity or VIP capabilities, if the room is designated a male or femaleroom or a unisex room, if the room is a private room, semi private, etc.The status of the beds and rooms are also stored in the database 20 asattributes such as whether or not the room is available or if the roomhas been cleaned or is scheduled to be cleaned as well as if the room isout of service for mechanical reasons such as the air conditioning orbathroom facilities are in need of repair, etc.

FIGS. 6M-6P illustrate tables of database 20 for storing events, patientattributes, room attributes and unit attributes. FIGS. 6Q through 6Willustrate tables of the database 20 for storing archived data relatedto events, patients, beds, units, as well as other information useful tothe bed management system 10 for monitoring and managing the performanceof a health care facility. Also stored in the database 20 is informationrelated to the staff and status of the rooms and units of the healthcare facility such as the number of employees assigned to a unit of thefacility.

Thus, the database 20 stores all relevant information required to managethe patient bed assignments and the bed occupancy of the health carefacility for normal operation as well as in emergency situations such aswhen a large number of beds are needed on short notice.

FIG. 6X illustrates a unit security table where security information isstored for controlling user access to the database 20.

FIG. 6Y shows a patient stay table of the database 20 whereininformation related to the patient's stay in the health care facility isstored.

Additionally, the database 20 may include additional tables similar tothe Patient_Schedule Table (FIG. 6E) and Patient_Stay Table (FIG. 6Y)for storing historical data such that the bed management system 10 canprovide better and faster access to data and reports regarding previousvisits to the health care facility for a patient as well as the statusof the facility at that time.

The database 20 is updated by the database server 18 throughout theoperation of the system in response to requests by systemadministrators, authorized users, the server computer 12 or in responseto messages from the ADT system 14 or other client requests.

The system 10 includes an emergency backup module 48 wherein a seconddatabase (not shown) is maintained for parallel storage of the datastored in the database 20. The second database is connectable to abackup server for operating the system 10 and recovering the data in thedatabase 20 in the event of a malfunction of the system 10.

Additionally, the system 10 provides monitoring and reportingcapabilities for monitoring the occurrence of certain symptoms ordiseases or other parameter which may be relevant in an emergencysituation or for research or other purposes. The system is configurablefor monitoring, reporting, comparing, etc. any parameter or functionthereof of the data stored in the database 20. This feature is alsouseful in a bed management system 10 configured to operate inconjunction with a plurality of health care facilities.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the bed management system 10 includes alog-in authentication module 34 for processing user log-in requests forthe bed management system. The authentication module 34 can functionindependently of the health care facility network and assign and utilizeindividual user login identification and passwords that are stored inthe database 20 for each user of the bed management system 10.

Alternatively, as in the preferred embodiment of the bed managementsystem 10, the login module 34 is coupled to the health care facility'snetwork such that the health care facility's login system is used toauthenticate a user's request to access the bed management system 10.Referring to FIG. 7, a Novell® LDAP server 74 is utilized by the healthcare facility for user authentication and the bed management system 10is coupled thereto, such that a user can access the bed managementsystem 10 using the same login identification name and password ashe/she uses for access to the Novell® network of the health carefacility. A typical login screen as displayed on a client computer 22 ofthe bed management system 10 is illustrated in FIG. 8 wherein a user'sis prompted to enter a Novell® user ID at 76 and a password at 78.Additionally, the login module 34 can be configured to track and storedata as to the use of the client computers 22 including all users,logins and logouts for the system 10.

Additionally, a security module 36 shown in FIG. 1 is coupled to theserver computer 12 for controlling user access to the bed managementsystem 10 as well as tracking all user activity within the system. Thesecurity module 36 is configured to provide various levels of securityfor using the system 10, including task level security, attribute levelsecurity, and attribute value level security wherein actions performedin using the system are referred to as tasks and each task has variousattributes associated therewith. The security module 36 is configured toassociate each user with a specific role, thus the levels of security inthe system are based on the role of the user rather than theidentification of the individual user, however, a user can be associatedwith multiple roles.

In using the bed management system 10 each task or attribute thereof ispermitted only by users in certain roles, thus prior to executing a userrequested task, the security module 36 verifies the role of the user andconfirms that a user in that role can perform the requested task.Examples of task identifiers used with the security module 36 are:

-   -   module—does the user have the authorization to enter this module        of the system, e.g. login module 34, security module 36, etc.;    -   screen—can the user view a screen, e.g. health care facility        summary screen; task—view physician roll-up values;    -   action—use a pull-down to select various columns in a screen;    -   process—assign a patient to a bed;    -   indicator—view an indicator, e.g. hospital occupancy level        indicator.

Thus, the security module 36 controls the use of the bed managementsystem 10 on a task by task basis, wherein authorization for eachrequested task is verified based on the role of the user before the taskis executed. The security module 36 is variably configured to ensurethat the system 10 satisfies HIPPA requirements including those relatedto patient privacy.

FIG. 9 illustrates a role configuration screen 79 accessible from theutility configuration module 42 shown in FIG. 1. Using the screen 79,administrators of the bed management system 10 can configure userswithin each role and define authorized tasks for each role. Similarly,FIG. 10, shows a user configuration screen 80 also accessible throughthe utility configuration module 42 for configuring the roles ofspecific users of the bed management system 10. As shown at block 81,one or more roles can be assigned to a particular user.

The utility and configuration module 42, shown in FIG. 1 is coupled tothe server computer 12 for the use of administrators of the bedmanagement system 10 to control and configure the operation of thesystem. The utility and configuration module 42 includes diagnosticscreens and self-checking status indicators for maintaining theoperation of the system. Additionally, the module 42 includes controlpanels for reviewing the status of active users, for creatingadministrative messages to be forwarded to users of the system and forconfiguring the system for security purposes including user and rolesecurity as discussed above. The utility and configuration module 42 isalso utilized to configure the system as to the conditions monitored byintelligent agents as well as all other user defined attributes of thebed management system 10 as will be discussed further hereinbelow.

Referring to FIG. 11, one embodiment of the bed management system 10 isshown illustrating the communication system thereof. The system 10includes a message handler 85 for processing all messages andnotifications for the system 10 including user notifications such asemails, fax messages, telephone calls, pagers, pop-up windows, etc. Inthe FIG. 11 embodiment, the message handler 85, includes a separateapplication to process messages of each type, such as pager handler 87,Email handler 89, etc. Notifications include all messages forwarded to auser such as screen messages, messages sent to a user's email address ormessages sent to a user's pager. The message handler controls allnotifications and acknowledgements thereof. The message handlerdetermines when a notification should be sent, how many times to sendthe notification as well as how the notification should be sent. Eachuser and user role has variably configured sets of Notify Methodsconfigured via the utility and configuration module 42 such that themessage handler knows how to forward any notification to each user orrole. All communications between clients are processed through a packetrouter 90. Upon creation of a message it is stored by a packet router 90in the database 20 and the message handler is notified that a newmessage has been created. If a message is destined for delivery to arole, each user logged in with the role is sent the message. The packetrouter 90, packets all messages and forwards each to the properrecipients as well as sends and receives acknowledgments (ack/nak) foreach message to and from the recipients thereof. FIG. 11 shows thedatabase server 18 and the packet router together, however it should beunderstood that this arrangement is not necessary.

A data import and export module 44 is provided to facilitate theimporting and exporting of data to/from external devices andapplications. For example, the bed management system 10 is configurableto access and import data and applications from web servers or otherexternal devices in the health care facility or related thereto. Forexample other ancillary health care systems, such as clinicalinformation systems that contain electronic medical records for apatient, clinical flowsheets, severity adjustment documents and othertypes of information can be integrated and processed by the bedmanagement system 10 via the data import and export module 44.

Additionally, the system can interface through the data import andexport module 44 with other external systems such as nurse call systemswherein the bed management system is configured to assist or provideprocessing, monitoring, notifications of all activities related to andprovided by nurse call systems. For example, if the bed managementsystem 10 is coupled to the nurse call system of the facility, the datamining and reporting module 40 can be can monitor and report patientwait time for nurse calls, average response time by unit during aspecific time period, etc.

The data import and export module 44 can also be used to couple the bedmanagement system 10 to patient transport systems, housekeeping systems,food preparation or kitchen service systems for monitoring, reportingand control of ancillary services related to the health care facility.These systems can be interfaced with the bed management system 10 usingvarious methods including intelligent voice recognition technology andtools therefor. Additionally, the system 10 is connectable tointeractive TV systems of a health care facility, wherein a patient viathe room TV can submit patient requests to the bed management system 10for processing. Examples of patient requests of this type are typicalnurse call requests such as food, water, bed cleaning requests, requestsfor assistance to use restroom or shower facilities, etc.

Also, the data import and export module 44 of the bed management system10 can be configured to couple to other external devices and systemssuch as patient monitoring networks for example General Electric MedicalSystems UNITY Patient Monitoring Network that monitors a patient's vitalsigns such as EKG, heartrate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, etc. ona 24 hour basis.

Once logged in to the system, the system can be used in various waysdepending on the role of the user. For example, the bed placement module38 shown in FIG. 1 provides user and client access to information storedin the database 20 related to patient bed assignments and bed attributeinformation related thereto. The function of the bed placement module 38includes providing user access to dynamic and interactive sortable userinterface screens such as the one shown in FIG. 12.

Referring to the user screen 91 shown in FIG. 12, the bed placementmodule 38 assists a user to assign a patient to an appropriate bed inthe facility by guiding the user through a set of process screens thatare used to identify and select an available bed that meets the specificneeds of an individual patient. The user screen 91, Place a Patient—FindPatient screen, identifies three steps; step 1 at 92, step 2 at 94, andstep 3 at 96 that provide user friendly access to the data stored indatabase 20 for locating an available bed for a particular patient andassigning the patient to the selected bed.

Referring to step 1 at 92, the user first enters various criteria toidentify the patient. These criteria include the patients, last name,first name, date of birth or account number, for example. The criteriamay also be of a general nature, such as by patient status, pre-admitsthrough a desired time period, or the type of medical service. Byclicking the update list button 98, a user request is transmitted to theserver computer 12 and the system 10 performs a search of the database20 and returns a list of all patients meeting the specified criteria.The search is limited to the source field indicated at 100 (in thiscase, the Emergency Department, ED). The search may produce a pluralityof patients as shown at 102 in screen 104 shown in FIG. 13.

Referring to FIG. 13 at block 102, the system displays a sortable listof all of the patients meeting the specified criteria. The profiled listof patients 102 is sortable by status, last name, first name, gender,birth date, symptoms, diagnosis, arrival time, and every other one ofthe variable data fields included in the user display. The fields arevariable such that all patient data available in the database 20 can beincluded in a sortable field of a user screen.

Referring to FIG. 14, a patient details screen 106 can be accessed byclicking on the name or row of a desired patient using the pointer 27 inthe screen 104. The patient details screen 106 is populated by the bedmanagement system 10 using the patient data from the database 20.Alternatively, a user having the proper authorization, as will bediscussed hereinbelow, can view, enter or update the patient dataaccordingly. For example, if the patient is a security risk, indicatedat 108, if the patient requires a negative pressure room 110, if thepatient requires a telemetry monitor 112, (shown as required in screen106), etc. By clicking the OK button 114, the bed management systemreturns to display the previous screen 104, shown in FIG. 13 as well asupdates the database 20 accordingly as to the user updated informationfor the patient.

Referring again to FIG. 13 and the user screen 104, a user can continuewith the bed assignment process by clicking the NEXT button at 96, afterselecting a patient to be assigned to an appropriate bed. The system 10,then displays the screen 1, Place a Patient—Find Bed, shown in FIG. 15,where an available bed can be identified and requested.

Referring now to FIG. 15, the Find Bed screen 116 is illustrated whereinthe available beds are profiled in a unit view at 118, that is selectedusing the view indicator at 120. Notice a bed view portion of the screen122, is darkened and not activated in the unit view. As shown, the userhas chosen to view all the units in the healthcare facility as indicatedby the Unit Don't Care box 124 being checked. Additionally, theoccupancy of the health care facility can be viewed based on a servicegroup as shown at block 125. The update list button 126 issues a clientrequest to the server computer 12 to access and query the database 20and update the data fields in the screen 116 accordingly. In the unitview 118 selected, current occupancy data for the entire health carefacility is accessed in sortable tables. For example, the particularunit of the health care facility is identified at 128, the currentoccupancy of the unit at 130, the pending occupancy at 132 includesdetailed information for pending incoming and pending outgoing patientsto the unit. The number of male beds in the unit is indicated at 134,number of female beds at 136, number of mixed beds at 138 (i.e., bothmale and female beds such as on a unit for newborns), private beds at140, the number of non-committed beds at 142, (i.e., 2 beds that are ina semi-private room, neither of which is occupied are non-committedbeds, however once one is occupied by a female for example, then theremaining unoccupied bed is designated also as a female bed). Also,identified although not shown in screen, are the number of negativepressure beds, positive pressure beds, as well as the number ofmonitored beds including hardwired monitors and telemetry monitors.Additionally, information regarding the selected patient for the bedassignment is identified including patient requirements in the Find Bedscreen 116 as shown at 144.

The bed management system 10 includes the capability to view the currentoccupancy level of the facility as well as predictions for the occupancylevel of the facility at future points in time. Future points in time aswell as ranges thereof can be entered at the From and To blocks 146 and148 respectively and the point in time block 150. As mentioned above,each column in the screen 116 shown in FIG. 15 is sortable by clickingon the column heading.

Referring now to FIG. 16, the Find Bed screen 116 is illustrated whereinthe available beds are profiled in the bed view 122, selected using theview indicator at 120. In this mode, the bed placement module 38provides user controls for selecting the bed sex at 152, the monitoringcapability of the bed at 154, isolation attributes for the bed at 156and the current status of the bed at 158. Additionally, the user canspecify the bed by service group at 160, the level of care at 162, aswell as a particular unit at 164. Additionally, the Find Bed screen 116,allows the user to query the database 20 for current available beds orfor future availability by selecting a point in time at block 150 or arange thereof using the From and To blocks, 146 and 148 respectively.

Still referring to FIG. 16, by clicking the update list button 126, theuser initiates a query of the database 20 wherein the system returns alist 166 of all beds meeting the selected criteria. The user may selecta bed from the list by clicking on the proper row in the list at 166.

A user may specify additional bed requirements using the screen 168shown in FIG. 17. Once an appropriate bed is selected, the user isnotified with a pop-up screen 170 as shown in FIG. 18 wherein the nameof the patient is confirmed, the selected bed ID, the expected arrivaltime for the patient and a field where any notes regarding the admissionor otherwise may be entered. User confirmation of the placementinformation and confirmation screen 168 activates transmission of amessage to be forwarded to the appropriate staff on the unit where theselected bed is located. The above-identified process for assigning abed to a patient takes approximately 15 seconds for a user to complete.

The system 10 provides user friendly attributes throughout the system,for example, once a patient is assigned a bed, the patient's namedisplayed changes in color from red to black as well as a reservedcolumn (not shown) being updated to indicate the patient has a bedreserved.

The bed management system 10 provides a plurality of interactive userscreens containing data tailored to the needs of a particular user oruser role. FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of how patientinformation can be viewed in a dynamic and interactive Unit Detail—floorplan mode, shown in screen 172. The unit details can also be viewed in atable mode using the tab at 174. In the embodiment depicted, there isshown a graphical view of an intensive care unit, namely Bliss 10-Eidentified at block 175. Views of other units can be viewed using thepull-down indicator at 176. The room number for each room on the unit isidentified at 177 and each bed is presented as a square icon, generallyreferred to by the reference numeral 178, in a simplified floor planview of the unit. In a preferred embodiment, colors are used to indicatethe selected attribute of the patient or bed. For example, the displayin FIG. 19 may be configured to show available beds using icons 178 ingreen and occupied beds in red. Additionally, the bed icons can beviewed in different colors depending on the attributes of the bedsdisplayed. For example, the pull down selector 179 allows a user to viewthe icons for the occupied beds color-coded based on the sex of thepatient. In this view the screen, 172 may display the male occupied bedicons in blue and the icons for female occupied beds in pink. Flashinggray icons 178 may represent beds with pending discharges. Closed orinactive beds may be color-coded black as is the bed icon 180. Manyother color-coded options are available via pull-down selector 179.These include patient and bed attributes such as gender, monitored bed,negative pressure room, and type of medical service (i.e. cardiology,surgery, orthopedics, etc.). In addition, each bed icon 178 can alsodisplay numeric values indicating how many hours remain until a patientis scheduled to be transferred or discharged. For example, the bed iconat 182 represents a patient having been requested to be transferred in27 hours. The triangle at the lower right corner of the icon 182indicates the receiving unit has not yet assigned a bed to the patient.Similarly, the patient in the bed represented by the icon 184 isscheduled to be discharged in 2 hours. Conversely, these numericindicators can also indicate how long a patient has been in a given bed.This feature is important in that hospitals typically do not have anoutpatient remain in a “outpatient status” for longer than 23 hours. Theicon 186 has a triangle in the upper left corner used to identify thepatient as an outpatient. The bed management system 10 can effectivelyalert (via flashing icons, audible alarms, e-mail, pager, phone call,etc.) the appropriate personnel when this 23 hour threshold has beenreached or is near. Additionally, the negative numbers are used toindicate past due transactions. For example, if a patient is stilloccupying a bed 2 hours past a scheduled discharge, then the iconindicators would be −2D representing the overdue discharge.

Based on the role of the user, all bed assignment tasks, patientdischarges, transfers, etc. can be performed from the floor plan screen172 as well as the table view screen for a unit. Still referring to FIG.19, the buttons at 188 provides a user access to various other screensincluding details of the patient or beds in the unit. Additionally, bedactivity can be viewed at 190 for a selected bed. The buttons 192 and194 provide a user access to additional screens and information as topending transfers and discharges respectively. A user can select aparticular bed in the floor plan view by clicking on the iconrepresenting the bed. The icon 196 having a black border indicates aselected bed.

The unit floor plan screen 172 shown in FIG. 19 includes icons 198 toindicate the status of overflow beds. A legend indicator button 200 isprovided to allow a user to display an onscreen floor plan legendindicating the attributes of the bed or patient identified bycolor-coded or other representations on the floor-plan view. Samplefloor plan legends 202 are shown on screen 204 in FIG. 20 and in FIG.21.

Referring to FIG. 20, the bed management module 38 allows a user to viewpending activities for the unit, in a lower portion 206 of the floorplan view screen 204. The pending activity button 208 allows a user toselect various pending activities such as incoming patients, pendingtransfers, discharges, etc; as shown in screen 204, the selectedactivity is pending incoming, thus details related to pending incomingpatients to the unit are displayed or accessible to the user. The assignbed button 210, can be used by a user to assign a selected patient aselected patient. Once the patient has been assigned a bed, the patientbed management module initiates requests to update the database 20accordingly. In addition, the screen 204 will be updated wherein thepatient's name will turn change in color from red to black indicatingthe patient has been assigned a bed and the selected bed will bereserved accordingly. The acknowledge and discuss buttons 212 and 214,respectively can be used by a user to acknowledge activities requestedby other users or to contact or confer with other staff membersregarding certain tasks or for other purposes. Once the incoming patientarrives on the unit, a user can update the patient's status in thesystem using the transfer or admit process of the system 10 and bedmanagement module 38 depending on the patient's situation. The system 10will updated the database 20 accordingly which will remove the patientfrom the pending incoming list and add the patient to an admitted list.Also the bed data will be updated to reflect the occupied status.

FIG. 22 illustrates a unit detail screen 216 in a table view. The screen216 shows an occupancy level indicator 218 identifying the currentoccupancy of the unit and a hospital occupancy indicator 220 that thesystem 10 provides to allow the user to monitor the status of the healthcare facility. A bed attribute indicator 222 allows a user to view thebeds in the unit select based on a selected attribute thereof (forexample, the indicator 222 shown allows the user to view all of the bedsin the unit). The screen 216 shows a particular bed selected at 224 andan incoming patient selected at 226. As discussed above, a user canassign the selected patient to the selected bed using the assign bedbutton 210. FIG. 23 illustrates the unit detail screen 216 as updated,after the user assigns the patient 226 to the bed 224 as discussedabove. The bed at 228 indicates a Y in the reserved column 230. Thepatient information at 226 has a bed ID number identifying the reservedbed.

FIG. 24 illustrates one embodiment of a patient and bed activity userscreen 232 provided by the bed management module 38 for providing a userto view, access and update detailed information related to the selectedpatient, the unit and bed. Additionally, a lower portion 234 of thescreen 232 provides a user access to the patient schedule data for theselected patient. The patient schedule data is stored in the database 20as shown in FIG. 6E. The user screen 232 includes cancel buttons 236wherein cancel requests for a selected scheduled event or request can beinitiated by an authorized user.

FIG. 25 illustrates one embodiment of a request transfer user screen 234that is accessible to a user by selecting a patient in a unit view andclicking the request transfer button shown referenced as 192 in FIG. 19.From the request transfer screen 234, the user can enter the details ofa proposed patient transfer in the blocks 236 and 238. Upon clicking theOK button, a transfer request is initiated by the bed management module38 including updating the patient schedule data and forwarding a messageto the message handler 85 regarding the transfer request. In turn, themessage handler will create appropriate message s to all appropriaterecipients of the message including a user or role user at the receivingunit. The message handler 85 also transmits any necessary notificationsrequired concerning the requested transfer. Upon acceptance of thetransfer by a staff user at the receiving unit, the message handler 85forwards a confirmation notice of the acceptance to the sending unit.

The bed management module 38 generates other user screens for handlingvarious tasks associated with managing the bed assignments and bedoccupancy of the health care facility. For example, FIG. 26 illustratesa user screen 240 generated by the system 10 wherein a user can schedulea patient discharge.

The database 20 can be merged with the ADT system to maintain accuraterecords in the bed management system 10. The bed management system 10 isdesigned to complement the network of the health care facility thus themerge function of the system 10 is not configured to update the ADTsystem 14, rather the database 20 is updated to match the records of theADT system. FIG. 27 illustrates one embodiment of an admit processingscreen for merging the records of the bed management system 10 with theappropriate record stored in the ADT system 14. The bed managementsystem 10 can match an individual patient by name or provide a user witha list of all patients in the ADT system 14 upon user specification ofthe patient match filter indicator 244. A user can then select thecorrect patient record in each of the upper table listing of the patientrecords 246 of the bed management system 10 with the lower panel listingof the patient records 248 of the ADT system records. Clicking the matchrecords button 250 merges the selected records wherein the bedmanagement system 10 is updated to match the records of the ADT system.

Additionally, decisions for patient placement can be centralized orde-centralized. The bed management system 10 of the present inventionprovides for communication between all users of the system. The sourceand status of all decisions are automatically tracked and stored in thedatabase 20. Additionally a monitoring process is capable of detectingand initiating notifications for any process delays. For example,Admitting or Emergency Departments can be automatically notified of bedplacement decisions or delays thereof, if appropriate.

It should be readily recognized that the bed management system 10 of thepresent invention is capable of providing a variety of screens showingone or more additional features not previously discussed. For example,the bed management monitor 40 can generate upon request, pendingactivity charts showing both pending incoming and pending outgoingadmissions, transfers and discharges for each unit, service group or forthe entire facility. In the pending activity charts a user can definethe scope of the displayed events in time increments. For example, thedisplay will include only events that will occur in the next 3 hours,the next 12 hours, etc. Also, details of the origin of each request areaccessible, such as information as to who made each request and when therequest was initiated. In a preferred embodiment, a Pending Activityscreen may be divided into upper and lower parts, where the top tableshows the amount of pending activity coming in, and the bottom tableshows the pending activity that is outgoing for a specified unit,service group, facility, etc.

The bed management system 10 can also interface with other ancillaryinformation systems such as staffing or “time and attendance” systemsand clinical information systems. This capability allows the system 10to provide a wide array of multidimensional data such as: available (andrequired) staffing levels to meet occupancy demands, clinicalinformation that may be useful in determining triage plans, etc.

Further, each of the user screens depicted in Figures include buttonfeatures along the bottom of the screen for accessing features asprinting, and navigating to various modules (i.e., Unit Details, PlacePatient, Find Bed, etc.).

As will be apparent to one skilled in the art, the bed management system10 assists the staff with everyday processes within the health carefacility as well as provides summaries and analysis of the records forthe entire facility or a portion thereof as well as the records ofindividual patients. The system 10 is configurable to provide efficientaccess to all parameters stored in the database 20 as well as summariesor analysis thereof. Administrators, program directors and the like, mayview data over a wider scope that encompasses multiple units, servicesor physicians, for example. Longer-term, retrospective reporting is alsosupported, both by user-configured screen-based summaries, as well as bythird party tools.

The server computer 12 of the bed management system 10 can also beinterfaced to a health care facilities accounting system for generatingreports in response to user queries regarding the budget and capacity ofthe facility. Alternatively, budget and financial data pertaining to thehealth care facility can be input and stored in the database 20 for useby the bed management system 10.

FIG. 28 shows an example of a census report 252 generated by the datamining and reporting module 40 that includes stratified census andbudget details for the entire facility including summaries by unit,inpatient, out patient, acute units, non-acute units and service groupsas well as budgeted discharge, length of stay and care day statistics.The report 252 also profiles average midnight census, peak census,including time and date thereof, maximum numbers of beds licensed foreach unit as well as actual numbers of available beds for each unit. Asmentioned above, a unit may have 40 beds licensed or available and stafffor only 30 beds. Thus, the report 252 profiles the utilization of theentire health care facility. The data mining and reporting module 40also generates comparative models for comparing the data of units orgroups. Additionally, the bed management system 10 is configurable toprovide summary reports similar to the census report 252 that profileand provide comparative models and reports for a plurality of healthcare facilities.

FIG. 29 shows an admissions coordinator (AC) report 254 generated by thedata mining and reporting module 40 in response to a user request thatprofiles census information including bed occupancy and availability fora health care facility. To generate the report 254 a user selects a dateand time for the data to be reviewed. Current and future reports can begenerated. In the example report 254, each unit of a health carefacility is listed by the service provided, the maximum number of beds,available beds, current occupancy, future (point in time, PIT)occupancy, resources, AM discharges (morning), male beds, female beds,mixed beds, private beds, non-committed beds, pending incoming andpending outgoing patients, monitored beds, negative pressure beds,positive pressure beds, comments, and added. This type of report 254 isuseful for identifying available beds as well as managing bed capacityand occupancy levels of the health care facility. Additionally, a reportsuch as the report 254, is useful to clear as many beds as possible if alarge number of beds are needed on short notice such as in a majoremergency. Many other data summaries and analysis reports can begenerated by the data and reporting module 40 in response to userrequests or automatically on a reoccurring basis for the use of thestaff or administrators of the health care facility.

FIG. 30 shows an example of a hospital summary report 256 generated bythe data mining and reporting module 40 of the system using StatisticalProcess Control (SPC) tools, including control and run charts, paretoanalysis and multi-parameter analysis as well as other analysis tools.The data mining and reporting module 40 is particularly useful formonitoring and analyzing parameters in real time, such as patientoccupancy and throughput, referral and payment patterns and networkactivity for the health care facility.

Referring again to FIG. 30, the hospital summary report 256 illustratesthe use of table and pareto charts to profile various units and statussummaries thereof. The chart 258 is includes both cumulative and paretographs showing the total occupancy for all units of a health carefacility. A total occupancy indicator 260 identifies a current totaloccupancy count for the facility is 709 at block 262. A user can selecta particular service group to profile at the limit display by serviceblock 264. The report 256 presents a table display 266 of the currentstatus of each unit of the health care facility. A table 268 showstotals for all of the units in the facility. The report 256 is anexample only, in that the parameters displayed are variable and can beconfigured to display any available data stored in the database 20 aswells as functions thereof. For example, the patients could beaggregated by time of admission, length of stay, admitting diagnosis,etc.

Additionally, the patient statistics included in the report 256 can bedisplayed and analyzed by service or physician by using the indicator270. Alternatively, the data summaries can be displayed using gauges272. The gauges 272 in the report 256 display data such as monitoredbeds, average emergency department placement time, etc.

FIG. 31 a physician discharge histogram report 275 generated by the datamining and reporting module 40. The report 275 shows a graph of thenumber of physican discharges 278 vs. the time of day 280. The totalnumbers for the all units of the facility are included in the dark bargraph 282, (all units selected using the pull-down indicator 284) vs.the discharges by a specified physician in the white graph 286 asselected in the physicians list at 288. The time frame for the graph isselected for one month using the indicator 290. Additionally, the timeframe can be defined by the user by selecting user selected at theindicator 290 and entering a range of dates or dates and times at blocks292. Also, details for the discharges for a particular time period, orbar of the chart, can be reviewed by selecting the particular bar inthis case (1900 hour bar is selected at 294) and by clicking the paretoselected bar 296.

FIG. 32 illustrates a physician discharge report 298 including agraphical representation showing all of the physicians and the number ofpatient discharges each had at the selected time period of 1900 hours asshown in the time of day indicator block 300. Zoom controls for thechart are shown at 302.

The number of discharges by each physician during the specified timerange is included in the table 304.

FIG. 33 is an example of a compliance productivity report 306 generatedby the data mining and reporting module 40 that graphically identifiesthe occurrence of specific events as a function of time in minutes. Forexample, the upper portion of the chart 308 shows the average time forall units (selected at 310) to complete a patient discharge during aspecified time period at blocks 311 and 312. As shown in the chart 308,the average time to complete transport of a patient 313 is 20 minutes(for example, the time taken to transport the patient from the unit tothe lobby), the discharge was documented at 314 and actually entered at316. Also shown at 318 is the time average time for all units in thehealth care facility to submit a cleaning request, shown as 40 minutes,and the average time to complete cleaning of the room at 320 is 70minutes. The report 306 can be used to improve turn-around time for thebeds in a health care facility.

The lower portion of the report 306 is a histogram 322 of the selectedevent (in this case the average time to clean a bed for all units of thefacility with +−3 standard deviations. FIG. 34 shows a detailed analysisof the average time to clean a bed by unit. The FIG. 34 graph 328showing the average time for cleaning a bed by unit was generated by thedata mining and report module 40 in response to a user selecting theaverage bar 324 shown in graph 322 of FIG. 33 and clicking the paretoselected bar 326. The table 330 shows the average time for cleaning abed by unit for each unit of the facility during the time framesindicated. Further details for each unit and the staff thereof areaccessible by selecting a particular unit.

The capabilities of the data mining and reporting module 40 through theuse of analytical tools such as SPC and six sigma methodologies, as wellas others allow the bed management system 10, to provide innumerablereports and analysis of the data stored in the database 20 as well asdata exported from other applications and sources such as thosementioned above. For example, in the chart shown in FIG. 35, a traumaregistry chart is shown wherein over 12,000 patients have beenstratified and profiled into 252 unique diagnosis related groups (DRG).The chart in FIG. 35 details the top 20 most frequent DRG catagories.

The SPC tools and other analytical tools are useful to visualize largedata sets in a graphical form. The control chart shown in FIG. 35 isuseful to view the variations of a process, using a series of rules andalgorithms the SPC tools are used by the system 10 to distinguishbetween normal variation and special cause variations.

FIG. 37 illustrates another SPC chart that can generated by the datamining and reporting module 40 illustrating a real-time control charthaving pre-established upper and lower control limits. An LED indicatorturns red if a data element falls above or below the specified controllimits. The lower left corner of the chart includes a range chartwherein a range of successive sample data points. The histogram in theupper right quadrant of the chart profiles the distribution of all dataelement s in real time. The data mining and reporting module can beconfigured to generate reports such as this for all of the stored datain the database 20 as well as functions thereof.

FIG. 38 shows a sample chart showing a tank simulation for a temperaturevalve, however this type of chart can also be generated for the healthcare facility data in the database 20 as suggested in the drawing. Theheater could indicate directed resources from a bed manager or unitmanager to appropriate units or service groups. The valve could be usedto indicate if additional staff needs to be added to the health carefacility.

The types of graphical reports and user interfaces identified aboveassist the staff and administrators of the health care facility to viewand analyze information that may otherwise go unnoticed. The system 10also notifies the users of any such situations as discussed herein. Inaddition, tools such as these help users plan for the future base d onhistorical and current events. Predictions can be made and assist tocoordinate allocation of resources. For example, the histogram shown inFIG. 37 might be useful in determining peak occupancy or demand for thehealth care facility by time of day, day of week, week/month of theyear, etc. This information can then be used to optimize access hours,staffing assignments and other resources related to the operation of thehealth care facility.

A key feature of the bed management system 10 of the present inventionis its use of intelligent agents to provide assistance and alert theuser of important alarm conditions that may otherwise go unnoticed.These agents can be configured to provide notification in the form ofon-screen messages, using technology such as Microsoft's Merlin MSAgent332 shown in FIG. 36, or via electronic notification (i.e. e-mails),pagers, facsimiles, synthesized voice phone messaging, and/or the like.

These online agents 332, as depicted in FIG. 36, are constantlymonitoring and analyzing pre-configured or user defined patient, unit,facility, census information, etc. The agents 332 monitor and predefinedconditions or situations, such as a high census in a unit (i.e. noavailable beds), excessive Emergency Department placement time for aparticular patient, or delays in responses to placement requests.

The agents 332 can be configured to identify key indicators on reportsor data stored in the database 20 related the health care facility orpatients thereof, such as occupancy levels (number of available beds,number of monitored beds, etc. based on user defined thresholds andscope such as unit or facility limitations; outpatients who exceed 23hour threshold in a bed; patients who have deviated from a critical pathin which specific clinical protocols are applied to specific populationsof patients, i.e. patients who have had a coronary bypass graft, CABG;patients who have underwent lateral transfers or have gotten bumped fromone unit to another because of a more acutely ill patient needed thefirst patients bed; or patients who were admitted to non-ideal units dueto lack of available beds in the ideal unit.

Other possible events or conditions that one or more agents 332 can beconfigured to monitor and report are such things as the average waittime in the emergency room wherein certain thresholds are predetermined;the activities of patients who have (or potentially have) communicablediseases and/or are immune suppressed (and therefore require eitherpositive or negative pressure rooms); if the patient is a VIP; if thepatient is being placed into a bed that is or will be occupied at thetime of placement. Additionally, the agents 332 can monitor and reportdaily events such as admitting and discharge profiles by time of day,day of week, month of year, by physician, patient population, etc. Thesetype of reports are especially important to hospitals because hospitalscan make a major impact on their throughput and revenue collection ifthey can discharge more patients earlier in the day (i.e., before 11 am)instead of later in the afternoon.

Additionally, the intelligent agents 332 can be configured to providealerts and notifications for innumerable conditions throughout thehealth care facility and the processes of the bed management system 10related thereto such as:

-   -   alert for a bed manager or role user that a particular physician        wants his patient to be on a specific unit and/or bed;    -   alert that a male patient is being placed into a female        designated bed;    -   alert that that a patient suspected of having an airborne        contagious disease (such as tuberculosis) is not being placed        into a negative pressure room;    -   alert that a hospital census has surpassed 90, 95 or 100% of        capacity or other threshold;    -   alert that a number of monitored beds (i.e., telemetry, hard        wired) beds has surpassed 90, 95 or 100% of capacity or        threshold;    -   alert that a number of available or staffed beds has surpassed        90, 95 or 100% of capacity or other threshold;    -   alerts as to the status of outpatients who have exceeded 23        hours in outpatient capacity;    -   alerts as to placement of a patient away from a nursing station        who should be placed near a nursing station;    -   alerts of patient who might be a security risk (i.e., a gang        member) placed near another patient that could increase the        security risk (i.e., a rival gang member). Note that this        security risk might not be created not only from the patients,        but possibly also from their visitors;    -   alerts of attempted access to a user's account (security alert);    -   alerts if average wait time in the Emergency Room exceeds a        specified limit (i.e., 2 hours);    -   alerts that a specific surgical procedure should be delayed or        cancelled due to unavailable beds (for example);    -   alerts as to delays in patient transfers and/or discharges;    -   alerts as to unoccupied beds which due to housekeeping delays or        mechanical problems;    -   alerts related to delays in bed turnaround times, such as that        housekeeping delays that exceed targets (i.e., exceeded 20        minute target); and    -   alerts on patient discharge entries that have been made more        than 4 hours after the actual discharge occurred.

The above-identified list of possible conditions or data that can bemonitored by configuring the intelligent agents 332 accordingly arepossibilities for example only. The data mining and reporting module 40can be configured to monitor any configuration of the data stored in thedatabase 20 or reports or other analysis generated therefrom.

The above description and drawings are only illustrative of preferredembodiments which achieve the features and advantages of the presentinvention, and it is not intended that the present invention be limitedthereto. By leveraging the power of current state-of-the-art softwaremethodologies and open architecture standards, the bed management systemof the present invention improves patient placement efficiency and savestime and money by assisting with the clinical and business decisionprocesses associated with patient admissions, transfers and discharges.This integrated technology directly benefits health care providers,payers, and patients.

However, it is also envisioned that the bed management system of thepresent invention may be useful in applications other than a hospitalenvironment, such as nursing homes, hotels, across multi-facilityorganizations as well by state or other agencies responsible formonitoring access (i.e. intensive care beds available statewide during anatural disaster) and the like.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention have beenpresented for the purpose of illustration and description, it is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the formdisclosed. Obvious modifications and variations are possible in light ofthe above disclosure. The embodiments described were chosen to bestillustrate the principals of the invention and practical applicationsthereof to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize theinvention in various embodiments and with various modifications assuited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scopeof the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto.

1. An apparatus for modifying and graphically displaying a health carefacility's bed management and patient status information, the apparatuscomprising: (a) an arrangement for producing a plurality of data cellsfor being viewed on a display, the cells having a plurality ofmodifiable attributes simultaneously relating to: (i) bed managementinformation for a health care facility, including at least one of bedoccupancy and bed availability for a health care facility; and (ii)patient status information for patients of a health care facility; and(b) a controller which modifies at least one of the attributes of atleast one of the cells to convey said bed management and patient statusinformation; and (c) an arrangement for producing a plurality of iconsfor being viewed on the display, said icons conveying said bedmanagement and patient status information; (d) wherein said icons areadapted to display secondary information associated with each attributeof the icon; and (e) wherein said icons are configured to be continuallyupdated based on information received from a patientadmissions/discharge system of a health care facility via transactionalmessages.
 2. A method for graphically displaying information relating tolocations in a health care facility at which patients are placed,comprising the steps of: (a) on an ongoing basis, receiving messagesfrom a computer system of the health care facility and updating adatabase with information extracted from the messages, which informationpertains to the patients and the locations for patient placement in thehealth care facility, whereby information about patients and locationsfor patient placement is maintained on an ongoing basis in the database;(b) accessing the database and, based thereon, displaying a graphicalrepresentation of a plurality of locations for patient placement in thehealth care environment which graphical representation visually includesrepresentations of at least a portion of the information about patientsand locations for patient placement that is maintained in the database.